Stolen Hero
by Will Write
Summary: Kim Possible faces a situation in which SHE is the stolen item...I do not own Kim Possible of course. I welcome reviews.
1. Chapter 1 Looks Like Pants, Wears Like

Chapter One.

Looks Like Pants, wears like Pants...

It started in the Middleton Medical Center, when Dr. Possible had just gotten out of an exhausting shift. She had a quick douche... It was wonderful to wash away a day's sweat and worries... A change of clothes, and she would be ready to go home. After changing, she noticed the how empty the bathrooms were... "Too late for those in my shift, too early for those in the next" she concluded. Enjoying the feeeling of privacy, she stopped a bit looking at her reflection on the metalized wall."Not bad for a 37 year old woman... " . From behind her, in the shadows, a dark-clad arm advanced holding an implement much like tuning fork. Dr. Possible almost turned before being touched by the fork. Almost. Instantly she stopped, as if frozen. A moment later, Dr. Possible was falling limp, only to be caught by her attacker, and then gently lowered to the floor... The dark shape took a metallic syringe-like object from a fold in her clothes, and stuck in Dr. Possible's side. The unconscious woman moaned softly. The dark-clad attacker made the the object disappear in her pocket. Then, she dragged Dr. Possible in a sitting position, over a plastic bench, near the mirror. The ninja-like suit was then reversed, and partially folded. leaving its wearer looking like a nurse. The disguised intruder left. Minutes later, Dr. Possible awakened. She felt confused. She had no memory of going to sleep... She decided that she had conked out from sheer fatigue. "Perhaps I should agree with James Timothy about his project of vacations by the sea", thought her...

A month later...

"Wade, what is the sitch", asked Kim when the kimmunicator beeped. She did it, however with the uneasy feeling she already knew, more or less, what was the problem. The uber-thief dubbed by the press "The Jumping Burglar" had stricken nearly every night, since he had started. about a week ago. Usually Kim would be even enthusiastic at pursuing a super-criminal, but this JB (as Ron started referring to him) was a frustrating quarry indeed. He could jump seven meters straight up, and was seemingly impervious to fatigue. He had an infuriating tendency to let Kim get very near, only to outdistance the acrobatic teen as if she was frozen. Kim had already managed to nail him with a dart from a Wade-supplied dart gun. If he were a syntho-drone he would have leaked his guts and melted, were he human, he would have fallen asleep on the spot. JB did neither, just plucked out the dart and went on. No blood, not even a red spot. It was like shooting a dart at a styrofoam doll. Then there were the guy's acrobatics... So far as gymnastics were concerned, JB (seemingly) could do anything Kim could, and more. That ruled out robots, according to Wade - there was no technology on the world to make a robot who could do that. Even the beebes were far from achieving that flexibility and precision. On the other hand, JB did seem clownish, with his fixed, goofy. grin on his face and his quasi-infantile exuberance. Only the fact that the stolen objects were undoubtedly items of Power, the kind of thing that "can't be allowed, in absolutely any circumstances, to fall in the wrong hands" justified sending Kim Possible against him. That, and the fact that conventional police seemed utterly helpless to arrest him. "The Jumping Burglar", said Wade, somewhat more enthusiastic than the predictability of the announcement granted..."This is SOoo not a surprise..." - Said Kim, rolling her eyes up, calling for her reserves of patience.

"Yes, but you'd never guess where he is attacking now!", replied Wade, triumphant. "Some secret plant somewhere? A secret lab? The Fort knox? " Guessed Kim, with her best "lets be patient" face, upturned eyes... "All wrong", replied Wade, "He is attacking the Club Banana!" Kim's eyes goggled. " Ridiculous!" -thought Kim, surprised- "What on Earth could someone interested in items of power want to acquire in the "Club Banana?" No power there... Only clothes. But Kim had long learned not to expect rational behaviour from villains. Besides, some plans were truly complicated. Take, for instance, Draken's scheme with the Diablos. There was no way for her to guess beforehand what did Draken want with the president of a toy company. So... Better go in and find out!

When Kim and Ron entered the store, found a scene of pure chaos. The store personnel was lying around, stunned by gas-emitting adhesive pellets. Monique herself was unconscious, her body slumped sideways over the counter, her hand still grasping the phone, two gas pellets adhering to her collar, one to her chest. The Jumping Burglar was bouncing around, ruining the merchandise, throwing paint pellets at random and howling with delight, his ever-present smile even wider than the usual. Without losing any time, Kim jumped into pursuit, bouncing up and down herself in her own unmistakable style. When she got near, he suddenly reversed course and gave her the slip, swinging on a fixture near a skylight. Kim, seeing how near the JB was to an escape route, made a desperate jump at him. At the very last moment, however, the mysterious JB turned and shot a paint pellet on her chest. The compressed gas explosion didn't harm her, of course, but confused her for a moment, and the resulting cloud of paint droplets blinded her for a moment more. When Kim took her bearings, she saw that Ron must have tried to use the moment JB was occupied with her to get the drop on the Burglar, but he had been stunned with a gas pellet like those used on the salespeople. Unlike them, he had not been (totally) taken by surprise, so he had not taken the full effects of the Burglar's weapon. Nonetheless, he was stunned, shaking his head and coughing...

That night's trip home had all the enthusiasm of the Moscow retreat. Kim didn't even want to think about the jokes the tweebs would make about her ruined clothes. The only time she felt angrier at a supervillain was when Dr. Draken revealed he had created "Eric" to woo her. It didn't even occur to her to use her battle suit. No way. Against the jumping Burglar, speed - not defense - was critical.

The next day, however, Kim awoke to a pleasant surprise. It seemed that the Club Banana had sent her two pairs of pants in her size and style. The accompanying card explained that Club Banana Inc. was most grateful for her help repealing the vandal, last night. Well, usually Kim would accept no rewards, but she reasoned that shedid accept favors of those grateful by her help, if the favors helped in performing her missions, and her pants had been ruined in helping Club Banana, and she certainly lacked funds to replace her "mission" outfits every week. So, in a sense, Club Banana was only helping her continue with the "hero" work, by reimbursing her of her losses. Specially considering that by then she had lost all her Club Banana pants. For some reason, she had been very unlucky with Club Banana pants this last months, culminating with the paint pellet incident... Now she had been down to her last good pair of CB pants (and that had been ruined by the Burglar). There were some more, but those were soooo "new no longer...". She felt immensely grateful for the so-timely generosity of Club Banana...

Two days later, early in the evening, the familiar four note melody sounded, and a tired Kim got her eyes off her homework, and picked up her Kimmunicator. "Wade, what is the sitch? ", asked her.

"Good news, Kim! I was informed that Warehouse 25 b, riverside avenue is being burgled by our Jumping friend!" A map appeared on the kimmunicator "See that it is almost between your home and Ron's, but much nearer to Ron's home, so it is better that he meets you a block or two from the warehouse." A triangle appeared on the map, its sides connecting Kim's, Ron's and the warehouse. Kim could see that the smallest side of the triangle connected Ron's with the warehouse 25, while the largest connected Kim's with Ron's. A dot marked the meetpoint, about half a block from the W25. "I have a taxi for you. Ron will go on his scooter..."

"But that machine is so noisy... We will lose element surprise."

Complained Kim.

"Don't worry. He will just go that way to meet point, and that place is far enough. I have already warned him."

"Okay, then." Said Kim, still sounding somewhat unsure...

Meanwhile, a rather nervous Ron drove his scooter to the warehouse district. Everything seemed so empty on the street that it seemed impossible for a robbery. or a session of vandalism in the JB style... It seemed that any stronger noise would attract everybody in the city... The atmosphere distracted him, making it all the more shocking when, on the desert street, he saw a young girl being callously run over by a truck, just as he waited for the traffic light to go green. Thinking solely of offering help, Ron ran to the blonde lying on the street, her shirt torn and red-smeared... She looked to be twenty, built like a dancer, and was mumbling something as Ron kneeled by her side, his fingers taking his cellphone from his pocket, ready to call an ambulance. Before he could say anything, before even that he pressed the first digit, the "victim" suddenly attacked him with a spray canister. It was so sudden and so unexpected that Ron breathed a lungful of the ko gas he was sprayed with. He had a coughing fit, and dropped on the street, trying to resist.. and then relaxed, out like a light. Out of the attacker's view, a small body tried to get out of Ron's pocket, only to take in a small fraction of the gas cloud and fall back unconscious, inside the pocket. Smiling mischievously, the treacherous blond girl turned off Ron's cellphone, then dragged her victim to the sidewalk, near a pile of apparently discarded cardboard boxes, where she applied a small adhesive patch to his neck. Taking a burlap bag from one of the boxes, she wrapped the sleeping teen up to the neck, and pulled him behind the pile. Satisfied that nobody saw her do it, the blond discarded her red smeared shirt, changing to one that had been concealed in the pile, and went away...

Kim arrived at meetpoint only to be warned by Wade that Ron had stopped on the way to Warehouse25, and was not answering to his cellphone. Maybe if Kim were no so irritated by the Burglar, she might be more concerned about Ron. But Ron's scooter was prone to malfunction on the worst moments, and Ron himself was also prone to forget his cellphone turned off at the worst times. Kim sighed and decided to attack on her own. She used the fire-escape to get to the Warehouse's ceiling, fixed her hooked cable to the skylight, and spied down to see the "sitch". The inside of the warehouse wasn't well-lit, but neither was it dark. She could see someone dressed like security guard, lying on the floor, chest and neck marked by two white spots, presumably two of those adhesive gas pellets. As for the Burglar himself , he seemed to be attacked by a madness similar to what had got on him during the attack on Club Banana. He was jumping up and down, bouncing from the walls and throwing paint pellets everywhere... All the while howling like mad. Kim didn't wait for invitation: She jumped right in, swinging on her cable, and closing on the Burglar like a hawk. Out of Kim's sight, the "security guard" got up with surprising ease, and began watching the evolutions of the teen hero and the Burglar. She watched a wildly acrobatic pursuit, all over the enormous warehouse, that resulted in Kim getting the Burglar cornered behind some crates misaligned on the far north corner...

Taking the opportunity offered by the pause in the fight, the "security guard" pressed a button on her watch - Half a second later, Kim's prized cargo pants were a soggy, sticky brown gum. Kim looked down in horror and shame, instantly blushing Crimson. "There was no opening for him to shoot anything at me... How could he do it?" - and then - "Thank Heavens," said Kim within her mind "there is no one in the warehouse but me, the stunned security guard, and this sneaky jumping burglar (that I don't think is really human)... Losing my my pants... Like on the alligator incident... and for the second time in a week! Nobody deserves! ". Tenths of second later, she understood that the situation went far beyond simple humiliation and inconvenience - The brown sticky mass covering her legs was frothing and releasing a strong, sweet and yet sharp perfume... So much like tutti-fruti ... She felt her head swim and her legs grow weak... "This is a trap... An attempt to drug me", she realized... True hero that she was, she didn't give up, but took a discarded piece of cardboard from a crate and tried desperately to clean herself... But the sticky bubblegum-like mess just wouldn't quit, and the more she tried to scrap it, the more the cloying perfumed vapors intensified. She called for the security guard - Kim could see she had somehow already awakened - to help her, but the guard just kept her distance. Annoyed, Kim tried to scrap the sticky mass on the rough wooden packaging crates, but her strength was almost all gone. She stumbled on the way to the nearest crate and fell to the floor. She was desperately trying to get up, when the tall security guard finally came to her. Instead of trying to help her up, or help cleaning her, however, the guard watched until Kim stopped trying to get up, then kneeled by her side, cradling the ruddy head on her lap, while caressing Kim's hair like one would a child's. A few seconds later, when it was evident Kim had passed out, the guard took an adhesive patch off her breast pocket and applied it to the sleeping teen's neck. A whisper: "This will keep you asleep, dear..." Then, she put two fingers to her mouth and whistled sharply.

Promptly, the Burglar came bouncing from his hideout, a goofy smile on his face. "Procedure c-1", she instructed, and the Burglar obeyed without question, opening a crate, taking a white plastic from inside and spreading it evenly on the floor. Gently, the guard lifted Kim, and laid her over the sheet. After that, as the Burglar took a big soft brush from the crate, the guard took a small metalic spraycan from her pocket, and carefully sprayed Kim's gummed legs. The brown gum disappeared, crystalizing into a colorless powder, that the Burglar brushed away. When the girl was brushed clean, out of the same crate came a soft white bathrobe, that the Burglar spread over the sheet, and where sleeping Kim was laid into, and carefully wrapped in.

Then the guard pulled a small fork-like device from her watch and began scanning Kim's dormant body, from head to toes. Four times the device beeped and four didguised tracking devices were taken from Kim's body. All those were deposited in a plastic bag... Smiling a wee bit mischievously, the guard picked up the Kimmunicator, from where it had fallen when Kim's cargo pants melted, and added it to the bag. The bag , she gave intto the Burglar's white, rubbery hands, directing : "Procedure dc-23". With an even wider smile on his face, the Burglar jumped 7 meters to the opened skylight, and took off in the night, jumping among buildings like a cricket in tall grass.

Meanwhile, a house-sized lens-shaped object, apparently translucid and nearly invisible in the night sky, landed atop the warehouse. The ceiling opened underneath and the object sent a wide light beam down. on the light beam, as if on a platform descended a shaft, four men stood. Two looked like male nurses. using all-blue jumpsuits, and carrying a stretcher. The third, older, by his stance and demeanor, looked like a doctor. The fourth looked out of place, but even so to be accorded considerable respect by his three companions. He sent worried glances at Kim, and the first thing he did when he stepped out of the light beam was to ask the "guard":

"Are you sure she is unharmed? "

The "guard" looked annoyed, but held her tongue: "Of course she is...we never mistreat our charges."

On cue, the doctor kneeled by Kim's side, drawing a fork-like instrument of his breast pocket, and scanning Kim with it, firstly alongside her forehead, then from eye to eye, then from chin to toes.

Getting up, he diagnosed: "Congratulations! A notably healthy captive. As usual, you managed to capture her with little to no damage, my dear Mis Duckter ..."

"Well, we are here to give them the benefits of civilization, not to perpetrate savagery upon them..." Answered the "guard" (or miss Duckter):

"Of course, of course." Said the Doctor

" Still, considering who your objective was ... I do think that acquiring her unhurt, and with very little fuss, deserves commendation!"

"Thanks, doctor... Okay, miss Duckter. I may be a bit overzealous, but... You understand... after what Lady Maken and I went through..."

"Of course I understand, Lord Joryum. But the doctor commends us too early... We still haven't taken to Neon our prize... Now, lets get going, time is getting short"

Saying so, Miss Duckter signaled to the two helpers. They approached, smoothly transferred Kim's limp body to the stretcher, took it. and then went in smoothly rapid march to the circle of light. There, they were joined by Lord. Joryum, the "doctor" and Miss Duckter... and by a pale, elastic figure, jumping apparently out of nowhere, but coming from the general direction of a door opening to the street.

After recovering the platform with its occupants, the lens-like vehicle took off, and flew to another deserted building's ceiling where a blond girl was picked up. That done, it went up in an incredibly fast acceleration, to the stratosphere and beyond...


	2. Chapter 2 Consequences

Chapter Two

_**Every Action Brings Consequences...**_

Having finished her shift at the MMC (Middleton Medical Center), Dr. Possible was pleasantly surprised to noticed that she was not as tired as usual. Not that her work at the Center had been any less gruelling: The last month's schedule had managed to make all of her co-workers grumble. It just seemed that she was much more energetic than usual. In fact, she had been feeling increasing more spry for the whole past month. The physician in her suspected she was "getting better" from some morbid condition she had no idea of. That was scary indeed...

Meanwhile, Wade was alarmed. Ron had stopped far too much time where there was nothing of real interest to justify it. And Kim... Kim's signal had disappeared. Yes, Kim's signal had disappeared right over the river. On retrospect, that mysterious company behind the Warehouse 25 looked very suspicious indeed. It looked like a front, nothing more. And the tip the police had gotten of the Burglar's target, looked like nothing as much as a trap. In his mind, Wade pictured a terrifying scenario, of Ron ambushed and killed on the way to the "sitch", and Kim having her feet encased on cement and thrown on the river. Wade might be a genius, but he was still a child, with a child's dramatic imagination.With his mind's eye he could see the scene: Kim's eyes, defiant to the last, watching her legs be encased in concrete, under the moonlight, by a bunch of faceless, ruthless dark-clad henchmen... He saw two hulking henchmen hoisting her up by her arms and cemented feet, swinging her like a sack, and finally throwing her like a discarded can, on the dark seawater... He cringed and brought his emotions under control. No use getting all worried about what "might be".He decided to call in one of the many favors the police owed Kim. There was a particular policeman who had every reason to be grateful... His beat was not too far from the corner chosen as "meetpoint"...

"Hello, Wade", called officer Severs:

"We are here at coner of 1230 chambers west and riverside park 1200. No signal of your friend. Any suggestion? "

Wade thought for a moment..."Hummm... Please, Officer Severs, give a look around. Describe the scene to me. Anything strikes you as out of place... unexpected? "

Officer Severs complied: "A street on the east district like any other... Many warehouses. few vehicles. a bunch cardboard boxes on the sidewalk..."

"...And the garbage truck supposedly passed by the block three hours ago. So how come the boxes are still there? Can you give a closer look at the boxes, Officer?"

"Yes, but I don't think... Yes, I'll d it."

Wade waited, his fingers crossed...

"Incredible, Wade! How did you know? "

"I didn't. How is him? Is he Ok? "

"Well, it seems so. Your friend was half-tucked in a black sack behind a bunch of cardboard boxes. He was, and still is, unconscious. Do you know if he is taking medication ? "

"None that I know of. Why? "

"He is wearing a patch on the neck. He may have been drugged with it, or

maybe it is a completely legitimate medicine patch..."

Since Wade knew most things about Ron's and Kim's routine habits, a legitimate medicine patch on Ron's neck was exceedingly improbable. Wade confirmed that the patch should belong to Ron's attackers and Ron was freed of it . He awakened five minutes later, what was good, because, had he remained unconscious, Severs would have insisted on calling an ambulance to take him to the hospital. As it was, it was already hard to persuade him to take the teen to his home.

15 minutes later, Wade had finally talked privately to Ron... And pooling their information alarmed both, because it proved that the whole setup was, indeed, a trap, meant to separate Kim from her friends and capture her...

Kim Possible awoke in her room... "What a rididiculous dream"...She thought. "Just imagine, my pants melting on a fight... Only a dream to have such absurds happen in order to embarass us. Like in the dream I had once, where I was on cheerleading championship and suddenly realized I had forgotten to use anything!" But wait, did it happen, or not? She felt sure she went on mission... Then Ron failing to appear... Then the triumphant feeling of finally having old JB cornered. But that was linked with the melting pants scene...

"Hello, Kim!"

The stranger was tall, female, and spoke with a strange accent. She sounded american, but it was as if she had grown more used to talk in another language... Even more disturbing was the glimpse that Kim had when she opened the door. It was as if her bedroom no longer opened into her home, but in a some kind of high-tech corridor. Kim felt a cold lump in her stomach. Kim was a very brave young woman, but she was human. The belief that she was in her home, in her bedroom, had made her relax and disarm her defenses.. She blinked, and tried to shake the cobwebs from her head. But the tall, stranger remained in existence. Kim ignored the the woman and looked around, trying to get her bearings. A multitude of details, small inaccuracies forced her to conclude. She, most definitely wasn't in her bedroom. this was just a copy. A good copy, down to the pandaroo cuddled with her, but just a copy nonetheless. The woman had remained still, as if studying Kim's reactions... Kim decided to answer. "Hello to you , too. Could you **_please_** tell me where the I am? And who are you, perchance?" Kim was 90 sure she was prisoner at some villain's lair, and that got her nervous. She hated being a prisoner, and polite villains irritated her even more than the blunt variety. Kim's bluntness, however, didn't affect the woman...

"Well, Kim this is one of those simple questions that are very hard to answer. I will have to tell you in a neonian ship, bound for Neon. But, in order to understand what is Neon, you will have to

have some History lessons..."

Kim blinked. Her face serious, looking the stranger in her eyes, she asked:

"An I being abducted ?

The stranger seemed embarrassed, almost apologetic.

"Humm, yes. But we don't like the word **_abducted_** we prefer to say _drafted_"

Kim blinked again. Here there was a villain who didn't think of her self villainous. A new type. She rolled her eyes up, asking heavens for patience.

"And what precisely does my being drafted means? "

The tall stranger bit her lip, paused a moment, and answered:

"It means you get sent to Neon, to be adopted by a neonian family, and to live out your days as a neonian..."

"WHAT!"

Kim was not in the habit of screaming, but she was still not quite in "mission mode", and thus somewhat psychologically un-cushioned against shocks. But the gall of this guys went beyond anything she ever found. She bit her lip herself - "Calm down, girl, you have to get some information. Lets not spook the gal out of her informative mood..." and asked in the most natural voice she could muster: "And just WHAT is this Neon? Some small country somewhere?

Again the apologetic smile. Kim recognized the face of someone who is going to say something that will be hard to believe.

" No, not country, my Dear Kim, but you are getting near... Neon is another planet, in another

solar system".

That did it. "Enough! You guys are crazy... " said Kim, jumping out of bed on her visitor. But the jump didn't carry her where she intended. It was as if the bed was surrounded by an invisible elastic bubble. Kim simply bounced of it, and was thrown back on bed, mildly winded. That didn't surprise her much. Force-fields were not that unusual, though such invisible, smoothly working force-fields she had never seen.

Kim didn't think her visitor (or host?) could look more apologetic, but she managed to, and said:

"Sorry, Kim. We know of your capabilities, so special security measures were implemented. When you promise to behave, I will consider releasing you for a tour on the ship..."

"Forget the tour. Look, I am not neonian... It makes no sense drafting me for your army or whatever..." said Kim, beginning to despair of getting out of this anytime soon...

"It isn't for army service. And believe me, it is just earthlings that we require, and thus just them that we draft" Answered the mysterious woman.

"Why? And why me? " asked Kim, more impatient by the moment...

"In order to answer that, you better take your history lesson first... But I think that before that, you better take your breakfast." Saying that, the woman got out for a second, and then returned with a tray of food. Before she got near the bed, she stopped and warned:

"Look, Kim, this bubble around the bed is impervious to a human body, but not to inanimates like food. If you want to throw food at me, you now have your opportunity. But that won't bring you any near to an escape. "

Kim didn't answer, but the thought of attacking when the bubble was de-activated to introduce food had occurred to her. Scratch that idea, if the bubble won't be de-activated. Better wait for further opportunities. And she was hungry. Better escape on a satisfied stomach.

The food had papaya, apple and pear. Three qualities of bread, cottage cheese and grape juice. All delicious. As she ate, Kim decided to ask the name of her erstwhile information source.

"This is SO awkward! Since it seems I am stuck with you, can you give me your name? "

"Oh, sorry. I am A.B. Duckter, but my friends call me Abby"

Conveying the news of Kim's probable capture wouldn't be easy, especially for Wade. Dealing with people wasn't his forte. But Ron accepted the charge, and later told Wade that "Kim's parents were taking the news well, considering..."

Meanwhile, Wade was anything but tranquil. This disappearance was precisely the kind of sitich people called Kim Possible to solve. But since Kim was not available, what could one do? Well, if the best resource isn't available, one goes for the next best. In Wade's opinion, that was Will Do, and Dr. Director had once given Kim a phone number for an emergency of this gravity. Kim had passed it to Wade, since (if the need came) he would probably be in better position to call for help than her. Dr. Director was very surprised to talk to Wade, because she hadn't expected to be called by un unknown ten-year-old in a number very few people knew about. But one of her qualifications for her position was an open mind, and she accepted that this was an emergency in which Kim herself couldn't ask for help. Not only did she charge Will Du with solving Kim's disappearance, she also supplied WD with every bit of information GJ had on the Jumping Burglar's crimes.

While Kim ate her breakfast, Abby tried to make smalltalk, only being received with a a wall of gruffness. But Abby was not one to give up easily.

"Look, Kim, I know you can't help being gruffy, but let us reach a modus vivendi, ok? "

"What kind of modus vivendi ? " asked Kim.

"Lets say: we promise not to attack each other inside this room, anyway, anytime. If you try to escape, I may interfere with outside, not here, and if you get out with me here, I won't get out for 15 minutes, or give alarm. In other words, I am giving up helping keep you a prisoner, as long as I am charged with your tutoring. "

"My tutoring... ? "

"Yes, your tutoring in your rights and duties as a citizen of Neon."

Kim smiled... as if she had had to drink the juice of three lemons. This whole "tutoring" concept

was SO ridiculous and so humiliating... But she agreed anyway. Cooped up on the room, she could do next to nothing, and cooped up on the bed, even less. Besides, attacking Abby would be useless without an idea of what was outside the bedroom.

As information on the Jumping Burglar, both from GJ and from miscellaneous sources, were channeled to Wade and Will Du, both began to feel more unease about Kim's disappearance. as if they hadn't been feeling plenty unease already. The objects stolen by JB were being anonymously given back to their owners. the random destruction caused by JB was being compensated, even lavishly. Why? The only conclusion is that all the other attacks by JB were just bait. Baits for Kim Possible. What also implied these attacks were meaningless, and informed nothing about JB or his real interests besides what they already knew: Kim Possible. Unbeknown to them, however, Dr. Director had kept an eye on their results and conclusions... and had found a hair-raising similarity between Kim's case and thousands of others...

"Time for a little History lesson, my dear..." Said A.B. Duckter with a small grin...

"Oh, Thank you so much, dear Teacher... I didn't even knew I was enrolled in that one..."

Said Kim, her eyes low and angry, voice dripping irony, her face serious and unforgiving...

"Oh, but you are, my dear. It is a required course for any adoptive citizen of Neon..,"

"I'll pass the adoption and the citizenship as well, _dear A.B_.!" Said Kim, this time frankly annoyed, pronouncing the last two words as the worst possible insult...

"Come on, come on. It was _you_ who _demanded_ to know why you are here, right? Well, you won't understand without a bit of historical background... "

"Very well, give me the facts. But please, don't "mydear" me, "my dear A.B. Duckter"!

"All right. Fact is, some tens of centuries ago, there was this highly evolved race (the D'Kron) who wanted to "adopt" a not-so-evolved race to charge of the minor details, daily drudgery, and so on. They decided for the human race, primitive as it was..."

"Lucky Us!" said Kim, still very ironic, then asked: "How come the Earth is still inhabited? "

"Well, they didn't need the whole humanity, just a bunch big enough to breed and keep breeding.

So they just abducted such a group, and that was the seed of the present population of Neon..."

They did that thousands of years ago. Even considering the relatively smaller population then, it was quite easy for the abductors to catch whole communities leaving the rest none the wiser. For one thing, back then, it was not so uncommon that whole communities composed of tens, or even hundreds of persons were wiped out by diseases or raiders, or even other ways... Also, there were very poor communications back then. Last, but not the least, superstition was overwhelming present, to deform and disguise any witness's account.

That is why you never read about the "great abductions" in your history books.

To spare you the details, lets just say that the D'Kron kept growing more and more dependant on the humans to do everything. They also grew less and less fertile. Eventually, they were at the verge of extinction, humanity was able to claim independence. and reclaim a world for itself. That was Neon. "

"And then, they decided to keep abducting Earth people, led by the example of their elders"...

Said Kim.

"No", said Abby, with an smile. "Not quite that. What happened is that one never quite knows how hard is self-government until one experiences it..."

"Meaning...? " asked Kim.

"Meaning that, after a few centuries of self-government, the good people of Neon were knee deep in commonplace problems that they didn't know how to solve, and neck deep in problems generated by trying to use super-technology to solve the first batch. One such problem, perhaps the worst, was overpopulation. The medicine of the D'Kron (even if it thought of it as veterinary)

increased the human life expectance many times over... In a bit more, the neonians would have surpassed Earth in population. Eventually, however, someone had the "bright idea" of creating a virus to repress human reproduction. "

In spite of herself, Kim was getting interested. She always did like History, and here was a History that none of her teachers had ever heard of. She said "And the consequences were..."

"Terrible" said A.B. "Not only did the virus destroy the reproductive capacity of a large part of the population, but it also set a cascade effect, damaging the genetic inheritance of most of the remaining. The descendants of those apparently untouched by the epidemics were left with a reduced fertility themselves, and a strong genetic tendence to lower fertility. The following years were terrible, and that is where your earlier observation may apply. The example is, all too often, compelling "

Kim goggled: "You mean that is when the neonians started..."

"Yes," said Abby, "That is when they started abducting persons from Earth."

Having noticed something, Kim decided to ask a question: "Abby, you always speak of the neonians. Aren't you one? "

A.B. Smiled. "No, I am not. I am a an earthling, much like you. My full name is Abilene Bethany Duckter, and I was taken from Earth in 1902. I am mighty glad of it, too. "

Kim stared. Abilene looked like she was 26, perhaps 28. No way could she be more than a hundred years old. "Come on", said Kim... "You are not saying you are **_that_** old? "

"You would be surprised of how old some born neonians have managed to get... That is neonian medicine for you. When I was abducted, I was 25. One thing is certain, though, if I had remained on Earth, I wouldn't have gotten much older.."

"Are you saying that, if you had remained on Earth, you would have died only a short time later?

Were you that sick? "

"I mean that, except for the neonians abducting me when they did, I'd have died a few minutes later, at most. My _disease_ was a **noose** on my neck. John Oaks cut our ranch from water, assassinated my father, and was going to lynch me for trying to escape on my own horse. He claimed we owed him all our earthly possessions, and had the law in his pocket. I owe my abductors my life. "

Saying so, Abby felt her eyes were watering, and her voice was getting brittle. "Sorry" she said, getting up.

"I should know better than mix my personal history on an exposition of universal history".

"No big" said Kim. "It is I who should be blamed, for I asked for personal data..."

"Anyway, I think I gave enough for you to think for now" said Abby... "Good by. The room contains plenty Earth material, both serious and entertainment... Lets meet for dinner, Ok? "

"Ok", said Kim, already distracted. She was used to the extraordinary, and was extremely hard to shock. But the whole new world of extraordinary she was getting inserted on, was just too surprising for her to acquire immunity. She could see no way for Abby to profit from lying to her...

But the sheer implications of each small detail in things Abby was telling her were just too big to take with a cool head. She wished she could discuss them with Wide, or Ron, or even Monique.


	3. Chapter 3 The Search for Kim

As soon as she was alone, Kim remembered she hadn't asked to be freed from the bed. Trying to get out, she perceived that the forcefield "bubble" that held her in bed was gone. It was probably automatic, she decided. Either that, or that "Abby" character had turned it off after her promise to behave. Unsure of what she would find, she tried the door that would be her bathroom door, back home. There was a tiny bathroom there, or what passed for one, inside a spaceship. The size, and the appliances had little in common with Kim's bathroom on Earth. Fortunately, part of what made Kim such a success as a hero was her ability to adjust, to integrate to any situation, and to learn fast how to deal with unknown gadgets. Soon she had done everything she did on a typical morning on Earth, including a bath on a very peculiar shower (or body sprayer, or whatever), had been dried by dry-air jets and was ready to dress up. Unlike the bathroom, her wardrobe was a perfect duplicate of the one in her house, only the content was different. She saw a few Earthlike clothes, obviously copies from hers, made in a different material, and a lot of clothes looking like halfway between futuristic fantasies and asian clothing. With a grimace, she thought: "well, I have seen way too much novelty." and done a set of "imitation" mission clothes. She hesitated a bit, because of some blurred memories that somehow warned her against "mission clothes" but thought "well, I can't stay in the pajamas, can I? " and dressed. The clothes looked exactly like her normal "mission clothes" but felt way more comfortable. That amazed Kim, because her "mission clothes " were already chosen for comfort. Finding something that dressed more comfortably than her "comfortable clothing" was surprising. Then she remembered something. Her pajamas had been so comfortable, she had assumed they were her own. That is, she had implicitly disbelieved she could be so comfortable in pajamas other than hers. And had thus assumed the pajamas were indeed hers. But how could that be, if she had been captured on a mission? That much she remembered, she had been in a mission. a mission against the elusive villain the press dubbed "the Jumping Burglar"... She examined her pajamas. A few moments of examination sufficed to certify that the pajamas weren't hers. The pajamas in her hands had not been sewn anywhere. It looked Like they had been weaved in a single shape, not fabricated by normal industrial processes, much less handcrafted. Kim grimaced. "Well, lets hope their security isn't as sophisticated as their garment tech" - Thought Kim - She tried the door "leading out", but it was locked. "Naturally" - She thought - "I couldn't expect these guys to THAT careless..." She began, then, to explore her room, looking for differences from the "original". She found surprisingly few. Mainly, she decided, it looks different because it is all-new. Nothing worn, nothing damaged. Besides that, there were the materials. Every copied item looked like the original, but was, as a rule, much, much tougher. Even her clothes, comfortable as they were, defied her attempts at making the least tear. She had hopes of making a rope - An all-purpose invaluable item to any would-be escapee. She had to give up making it from her clothing. No matter. The most important single item to organizing a flight from anywhere was _information_. She had access to a lot of information thanks to her status as a neonian "draftee". There were also a few questions she could ask this "Abby"... If she was careful, and mixed the critical questions with harmless ones, maybe this "Abby" would never suspect. On second thought, she was going to have some trouble filtering out the truth... This story about being a centenarian... Well, Kim had seen a few incredible things in her lifetime, but this... this was a bit too much.

Ron was on an unenviable position. Being brought home in the small hours by a police car, having his parents informed he had been found unconscious on the street, he was subjected to an almost unstoppable torrent of unpleasantness, but the worst part was his anguish about Kim's fate. He somehow managed to steal a moment to (briefly) confer with Wide... The boy genius opined that the whole setup was certainly a trap, designed to first separate Kim from his friends and then kidnap her... Why ? That, Wide could only guess: "To keep Kim from ruining some coming scheme, to achieve revenge for some past interference, to win recognition by the criminal world..." All these were possibilities. The first two would indicate Kim's past adversaries as prime suspects, but none of those would fit quite with the "modus operandi". Then, either it was the work of a completely new (new so far as Kim was concerned) villain, or some "old villain" had got a significative upgrade in material & methods... and probably a partner who provided those. No, no. The "new villain" seemed the best probability. But that left the motivation darker than ever. Meanwhile, Ron went nuts. He just couldn't live with his gf being some villain's prisioner. They had been imprisoned sometimes, for short periods... But always, or almost always, together. The lovely redhead was somehow part of Ron's... Or so he felt. He found easier imagining himself living without his right arm than imagining living in a Kim-less world. It was just impossible. As impossible as going to school that day. Everybody who knew him knew her, and knew they were inseparable. Going there alone would be an open invitation to a hundred thousand questions about Kim - Most of which he couldn't answer... but wished he could. So, he did what he hadn't done since his pre-teens: He skipped class. He couldn't attend, and couldn't explain why he couldn't attend... It would be just too painful. Instead, he decided to go to the Possible's house... Or the House of Possible, as he used to call it. Possibly, hopefully, they had news of Kim. Actually, they hadn't, but they had the next best thing: news of the search for Kim. Officially, the police couldn't declare Kim missing until 24 hours had passed, but non-officially, lots of officers were already going over the last known places Kim had been. The Possibles were amazed at the amount of goodwill that Kim used to spread - which was now coming home. Everybody wanted to help the "girl who came to help".

The door chimed, and Ron volunteered to attend it. Something within him not quite dared to hope it was Kim, to tell another wondrous (but true) tale of daring escape from a villain's lair.

It wasn't. I was Will Du, and there was a girl with him.

- May I enter?

-Oh, yes - Said Ron, somewhat disconfited by WD's presence. He didn't expect to hear of Global justice excdept a day or two later. But Global Justice didn't go by the sme rules as the local police, or the FBI, Will explained to Ron. Besides, Will Du had just concludded an investigation on the USA, and it was easy to send him to Middleton.

Gesturing for the girl, Will introduced her: "Ron, I believe you have never met, am I right?"

Assenting, Ron extended his hand to the girl, and Will went on: "This is my sister Dina Donna Du..." Shaking Ron's hand, Dina added: "For my friends, it is DD, Ron. You may call me DD..."

She said smiling . Ron answered still somewhat ill at ease - For DD Du was quite attractive, and Ron was intimidated by unfamiliar beauty...

To go over his embarassment, Ron decided to put the ball rolling. "Now what" he asked,

"What is the next item in the program? "

"Now we have to talk about what you and Possibles know... " And, as if on cue, The doctors Possible entered the living room right then. They had heard Ron talking to the newcomers, and hadn't identified the voices...

". I'm Will Du. GJ indicated me to take Kim's case. Nice to meet you, Doctors Possible... I only wish we had met in less straining circunstances" ...

"He was sent by Global Justice", Elucidated Ron.. -"...To help us find Kim!"

"Yes,"agreed WD. "'Help' is quite the operative word here. It will have to be a cooperative effort. Lets start now".

The Possibles seemed tense, Ron noticed, but not nearly as anguished as he would expect his own parents would be if he had been kidnapped. Then it dawned in him that they, also, should be still expecting Kim to show up any moment, with a story of how she had escaped on her own...Well, that was better than having them desperate and nearly irrational with worry, he reasoned... Even if he was personally becoming desperate of any last-minute miraculous return...

The Du's proceeded to organize the interrogation of the Possibles and Ron as the closest witnesses to the facts surrounding Kim's disappearance. After he was painstakingly quizzed on his experinces that fateful night, Ron was taken aside by DD, who called up an IDKIT program in her notebook and helped Ron recall the face of his attacker. At that point Ron's experiences with his hobby of mask-making became invaluable. Because of his hobby, Ron was quite familiar with human facial structure. Together with DD's dedication and frank perfectionism, they were able to evoke a picture that was very good likeness of the mysterious blond. Meanwhile, Will Du, having interrogated the Possibles, became very interestede in some details of Kim's abortive campaign against the infamous Jumping Burglar. The whole setup seemed completely atypical of Kim's usual missions in so many ways... It all came together when Mrs. Dr. possible mentioned that Kim, on the morning of her last day, having been quite happy, almost joyful, from having received a present of clothes from Club Banana. Will Du, then, asked if Kim had ever _**before**_ received clothing as reward. - Not that she knew of - , was Mrs' Dr. Possible answer. In fact, the reward AND its aceptance had been quite surprising - until she had remembered how much Kim had been complaining of damaged clothing on her missions against JB. Will Du asked to see the "reward " clothing - And Mrs. Dr. Possible took him to Kim's room, where they found some "mission clothes" still on the package. There was a set missing - Mrs. Dr. Possible confirmed that "Kim must have had worn them on her last mission..". WD contacted Middleton's police, who promised to investigate if the Club Banana had indeed sent any reward... Just in case, he asked Dr. Possible to allow GJ test the remaining clothes - to what Dr. Possible agreed. Those were sent to Littleton, where GJ had a lab. A snippet was sent to Wade Load, who demanded to participate on the analysis. Will announced a they would pause for lunch, so they ordered it by phone. Nobody was feeling like eating out.

///////////////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\////////////////////////////////////////////////

The next day, half a world away, Doctor Drakken was reading the online newsletter of HenchCo. He mainly read it for the advertissing of new items he could send Shego to "_outsource_". On a couch nearby, Shego read "Villainous Fashion". Suddenly, Dr. Drakken exclaimed: "Whooopee!"

Shego startled, lifting her head and shaking her dark tresses - What had taken the crazy Doctor, now? - And watched Drakken get up and fairly dance on the room, whooping all the while...

"What has gone into you, doc? Won Jack Hench's lottery?"

"Muuch better! Muuch better!" Answered the mad, blue, scientist. Exhilarated, and panting from exhertion and sheer happiness, he went on: "Wonderful news, Shego! Wonderful news! The success of our next scheme is guaranteed!" - Shego made a face, and doubted: "I thought you had not yet devised the next scheme, Doc. How can you guarantee it will be a success? Has the Princess agreed to leave you alone this time ?" - and green-clad Shego smirked.

"Much better, Shego, much better! KIM POSSIBLE HAS DISAPPEARED!

HenchNews even states she was _abducted_"

Raised night-dark eyebrows, Shego asked "_Abducted_? How? By whom? "

"It doesn't say it here, but HenchNews say she is likely gone for keeps - And they are always right", assured the blue-skinned mad scientist. Meanwhile, Shego sat on the chair Drakken had vacated, and read the text herself. And palled. And said, in a very low, very matter-of-fact voice:

"We must abandon this lair, Doc... Right _**now**_."

"Don't be ridiculous, Shego, we just got installed here! Why on Earth should we

get out? "

"Because everybody knows we are the princess's archfoes. Every friend she has on Earth is looking for her - And we are their first stop!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Shego!We didn't do anything... This time."

"Would you believe you -or me- in their place, doc? "

"Why not? I have always been a fairly trustsworthy guy, if I must say myself..."

"Doc, doc. You are fairly trustsworthy in your own opinion, but nearly everybody else  
have mad scientists to be very _**un**_trustsworthy - And, for my sins, the same goes for their helpers."

"Don't be ridiculous, Shego, what the **unwashed masses** believe is none of my concern..."

"Doc, doc. You better be somewhat concerned, because we are not the hardest outfit to track, and the only reason we have been left alone lately is because we haven't done anything really worrisome lately - But now that they _**think**_ we did, they may even put pressure on the villain's lairs rental company to squeal on us... "

They are interrupted by the sound of fight, and of doors being broken through, and of shots...

"What is this?" Asked Drakken, annoyed. "Who is trying to crash the peace of a self-respecting scientist, when he is discussing important things?"

Still sitting at the computer, Shego accessed the security circuit, and answered:

"It is the _**unwashed masses**_, doc. The faction that calls themselves GLOBAL JUSTICE.

As I predicted, they have come calling... We better be on our way. Those idiotic goons of yours

won't hold them much longer... "

///////////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\///////////////////////////////////////////

About 15 min. later, in Middleton, in Kim's home: Will Du answered his Unlimited Cellphone The Possibles and Ron saw him take the call. Ron was again with them, this time with a "sickness" permit (even the school psychologist recognized he was too anxious to attend), because nobody could keep him away from the search for Kim - Except , maybe, by kidnapping him, too.When Will pocketed the phone again, he had three bits of information to share: First, that GJ had tracked Drakken & Co. to one of Drakken's lairs, but had seen both him and Shego escape through the roof in some kind of modified hover that had sprouted wings and become a plane. Second, that it didn't really matter all that much, because he didn't believe that Drakken & Shego were behind Kim's disappearance. Third, that the labs at Littleton had uncovered something, and he was going there to interview them personaly. The Possibles didn't volunteer to join Will - They felt someone had to stay at home - Just in case some information - or even Kim herself - popped out of nowhere. So Will and Ron jumped aboard Will's rental car and zoomed to Littleton. Arriving at Omega Institute, one of the most modern buildings in Littleton, they were greeted by

Dr. Reese-Archer, the foremost researcher into "Mad Science". The moment he heard Will explain to Ron the foremost position the Omega Institute occupied into the research of "Mad Science", Dr. Reese made a face. "Please, don't use the expression _Mad Science_. "There is no Mad Science. There is Science and there is unknown. Anything falls into one of the two categories." He went on: "Ancient cartographers used to place the phrase _hic sunt dracones_ on places of the map they knew nothing about. Like that phrase, the expression _Mad Science_ is employed to phenomena we can't explain - yet. It is a cover-up of one's ignorance. And that is bad: Covered ignorance is irremediable ignorance".

Ron was impressed by the Doctor's vehemence, but Will wasn't. ""That is all right and good," said he, "but how do you explain those individuals, more often than not more than half crazy, going beyond what the massed powers of organized science managed to go? "

Dr. Reese smiled wryly. "Well, we do have a theory. Are you familiar with the many-worlds interpretation?" - Now, it was Ron who answered: "I have, if you refer to the explanation of apparent infringiment to causality by the existence of an infinite branching of the universe, for any non-causal event." Will shook his head. He didn't expect such language from Ron. Dr. Reese was interested,too, and seemed to recognize Ron from somewhere. On that moment, however, only Will spoke, saying "I have read about the MWI too, Dr. Reese. How does it fit the Mad Science angle? " - Doctor Reese closed his eyes, as if to concentrate on the best way to convey his theory. "Based on numerous and fragmentary evidence, we have come to the conclusion that these individuals, the so-called mad scientists, have the psychic ability of communicating with their counterparts across the chasms separating universes... And acquiring technology from their minds. "

"Come on," said Will, "That doesn't explain enough. How come the other universe j_ust happens to have_ a higher technology than ours do? Can't it be at a lower technological level?"

"We believe, " -said Doc. Reese, "that it is probable that many psychics _**do **_form a link to their counterpart on lower-tech universes. These, however, simply never become inventors. They may become unstable personalities,some become obssessed with the weirdest things - and some never really allow whatever thought come through their link to really affect their lives."

"Excuse me, Doc", said Ron, "But I have seen the so-called mad scientists doing some very amazing things... It is hard to believe that mere technology import can explain those.. "

"Not just import of technology." said Dooctor Reese. "Import of extra-universal technology. Import of technology that was developed where science followed a completely different course from what it took on our universe. Here, in the Institute, we call it anachronic science, because it is the product of science developed outside our time-line."

"We know you dislike the term mad science", continued Will Du. "But what makes it, mad science or anachronic science, so capable of defying physical laws? "

"Actually, my disliking of Mad Science as a terminology, comes from the implied meaning", said Dr. Reese. "Mad Science would imply that the so-called mad scientist managed, by sheer madness, obtain a dispense from operating within the confines of physical law. That explanation is, of course, ridiculous. In that sense, there is **no** _**mad science**_. What does exist is simply anachronic technology, and anachronic science. Anachronic technology does seem to defy physical law, but it does that simply because it was devised where science developed differently, and different physical laws were discovered. Those physical laws are, of course, valid everywhere, so they are valid here, and can be used to circumvent the laws we do know about. "

Now, it was Will Du's turn of being impressed: "Then, you mean the so-called mad science (or anachronic technology) is always the product of new, undiscovered scientific principles?"

"Nearly always so" Confirmed Dr Reese. "Scientific principles undiscovered here, but discovered elsewhere..."

"All right, Doc" said Ron, "This is all very instructive, but we are forgetting our present business..."

Doc Reese smiled. "No, we are not. I allowed the discussion to drift to this point because I have something to tell you both..."

"?"

"The article you sent is not the product of any "mad scientist" said Doc Reese.

"No?" wondered Ron, bemused. "Then, why did you call us?"

"I said it wasn't a typical example of what I call anachronic technology, but I didn't say it was a normal product of terrestrial tech, either. Anachronic tech, the so called 'mad tech' is always an adaptation of tech created in another cultural matrix to the circunstances and limits imposed by our technology, in terms of available parts, available material and available power. What you sent me is no adaptation, but a highly sophisticated product, of _completely alien manufacture_."

Both Ron and Will gasped. Will recoverd first, and asked: "I have a thousand questions, but just for starters, what does it do?" - Doc Reese-Archer smiled again, that patient, wry smile that Ron and Will had seen before. "I can say for starters that I don't know much as of yet, so maybe some 995 or even 997 of these question will go unanswered today. But what we have discovered is that

these clothing articles seem to be a very sophisticated trap. "

Ron and Will bit their lips and Will urged: "Go on..."

Doc Reese went on: "Each thread in the cloth seems to be constituted of four parts: Three

different polymeric fibers and a metalic nano wire. The nanowire is infusede into the core of the third fiber. The wire itself seems to be a very sophisticated microwave receiver. The moment it receives an impulse in a certain frequency, it will trigger a chemical reaction within the third fiber and melt it. A solvent infused into the third fiber will attack the two other fibers, melting them and causing the chemicals infused into them to react with each other. The result is a glop of viscous, adhesive goo suffused with a powerful anesthetic gas. "

Ron bit his lip. "What you think will happen to someone wearing this clothing, when the microwave impulse is received ?"

Doc Reese raised his hand, asking for patience, and went on: "She (since they're girl's pants) will suddenly discover that she no longer has pants on, but instead has her legs coated with thick, sweet smelling goo. She will probably try to clean herself, and will most certainly fail... She will feel progressively weaker, under the influence of the gas. She will fall down in 90 seconds, and will be unconscious in about three minutes..."

Ron felt a cold lump form in his stomach: Then, that is how they had surprised and captured Kim... Poor Kim!

Will could see Ron was losing his focus, so he took charge: "So, the pants are a trap, but not mad science... or anachrotech, to coin a term.. right? So, where in the world did it come from?

"Not precisely" replied Dr. Reese-Archer: "It is barely possible that some tinkerer managed to contact another universe and bring this trap here. He would have to have had the cumplicity of people living there. Other possibility (that I find more probable) is some unknown culture with highly advanced technology using their tech to kidnap people here. This isn't so unheard of, some heros have contacted us, who were dealing with alien cultures. Most frequently, visitors from space, but extradimensional invaders have also appeared, and even time-travelers from ancient technological cultures have been detected once..."

Will, having studied the reports of many cases involving those kinds of invasion, nodded thoughtfully. "And, in the end, we earthlings are always left with an awfully small bit of information for our pains... "

"


	4. Chapter 4 Stolen Child

W_here dips the rocky highland_

_Of Sleuth Wood in the lake,_

_There lies a leafy island_

_Where flapping herons wake_

_The drowsy water-rats;_

_There we've hid our faery vats,_

_Full of berries_

_And of the reddest stolen cherries._

_Come away, O human child!_

_To the waters and the wild_

_With a faery, hand in hand,_

_For the world's more full _

_of weeping than you can understand..._

_**W.B. Yeats, "Stolen Child" (excerpt)**_

DD Du, hadn't gone with Will & Ron to see the lab results for various reasons. For one thing, she didn't want to leave the Possibles alone, just in case they did receive some information concerning Kim. For another, she was concerned about the Doctors Possible, specially Mrs. Doctor Possible. As a brain surgeon, Mrs. Dr. Possible was probably used to repress her emotions to a large extent, even on normal times. Now she was having to deal with whole new level of personal emotion, and if she did try to hold that in - then she risked cracking up. Thinking on these things, when the night came, after Will Du had phoned to warn he would not return that day, DD asked Mrs. Dr. P. if she liked Jasmine tea. As it turned out, she had only drunken it once, but "yes," she did "like it". With the good doctor's permission, DD started to prepare the fragrant tea. Meanwhile, Mr. Dr. possible tried to research anything that looked like the activities of Kim's foes - What DD could have told him that was probably redundant, but did not... After all, it did give him something to do. Besides, Mr. Dr. Possible was knowledgeable on various fields connected to space research, and connected to a lot of people on the scientific field. That _might_ give him an edge on detecting villainous activity, as compared to the average GJ researcher. Anything helped.

Drinking tea together, the conversation picked up. DD didn't try to talk about Kim, but neither did she try to steer the subject away from her. As long as it didn't depress Mrs. Possible, DD was quite in favor of talking about Kim. The more she knew about Kim, specially in the last few weeks, the better for the investigation. Their conversation was interrupted by the door chime. There was unease. After all, the GJ agents didn't want their presence in the Possible house to be divulged, and the Possibles didn't want visits... at least for a while. In the spur of the moment, Mrs. Dr. Possible agreed with the agent that DD would attend the door and try to dismiss the visitor - Unless the visit was somehow connected with Kim's search, of course. DD was to say the Possibles were absent... But, as she opened the door, the one on the entrance was the last person DD would expect see... At least, then and there. It was also someone she had seen quite a few times...

Well, why was Will kept from returning to the Possible house? Because, just as Ron & Will departed from the laboratories, Will got a call from GJ, with a message from Boris, The Negotiator. Boris was a very convenient fixture for GJ. Believed to be a very shady character with dozen crimes to his name, he was actually a GJ agent, deeply undercover. His mission was to intermediate deals between GJ and any villainous character who wanted to do so. And GJ never regretted this arrangement. Many a valuable piece of information had come to GJ from disgruntled henchmen or traitorous (villainous) partners. Boris discreetly took care of de-railing "deals" which were actually meant to entrap GJ. Now Will was informed that some member of the villainous world had contacted Boris, asking him to set up a meeting "with the agent in charge of finding Kim Possible". Truly, this was a surprising development. Up to that very moment, every clue that Ron & Will had uncovered pointed away from the community of "usual suspects". Now, someone from that community as much as claimed to know something of Kim's disappearance... Could it be a trap? Maybe, but Boris obviously didn't think so, otherwise he would never have forwarded the message. And Boris had an uncanny instinct that Will had learned to respect. Boris had a standard meeting place, a solitary cabin in the hills between Middleton and Littleton to serve as "neutral ground".

Hours later, Will waited there for the contact to show up. Ron not been allowed to come, in spite of his protests. Eventually, a car stopped outside, and a dark figure got out. To Will's surprise, the figure dragged _someone_ from inside the car - Someone who was quite limp. As the approached the house, and more light fell on them, Will could see that it was a girl that was being carried... As the carrier opened the door, he could see that the carrier was as also a female - A female he recognized: Shego! Utterly fascinated, Will watched Shego deposit the girl - a slim young brunette who seemed quite unconscious - on the couch. Typically, it was Shego who broke silence: "Well, mr. Du, are we going to silently study each other all night, or do we get to talk business? " That attitude from Shego was to be expected, so Will was hardly surprised. He shrugged "We talk, Miss Go.", He answered, "However, it was you who arranged this talk... Exactly, how much do you know, and how much do you want ?"

"Not so fast", said Shego. "This can be long and involved, so we better pick a soda apiece... We don't have the time squabble. I have dealt with GJ before, so I know you always keep a well-filled refrigerator." A few minutes later, with a quart soda bottle in her hand, Shego started: "First, this disappearance of Kim is not my doing, nor it is Dr. Drakken's. Actually, I first knew of it through HenchNews... "

"Come on, miss Go! Do you think GJ doesn't have access to your so-called private electronic newspaper? "

Shego smirked: "At least I think you fail to look at the information at your disposal with attention enough. The very short note published on Kim's disappearance implicitly stated that your redheaded hero will never return. Now, how could they know of such things, unless..."

"They had inside information on the abduction? Interesting deduction. Debatable, but interesting. And where does the _**sleeping beauty**_ fit?"

"Actually, she is _**Luisa Street**_, Jack Hench's niece. She wanted to work for a big newspaper as a journalist, but she was too young, too green to be accepted. So, her Uncle Jack charged her with the redation of HenchNews... Any sources they have, she knows everything about."

"I can't say I approve. Technically, HenchCo isn't a criminal organization, what makes Miss Street a law abiding citizen." -

"Is law abiding to conceal information on a kidnapping? "

-"No, that is why I should have denounced you right now, over the brunettte's kidnapping "

- "Ok, ok. Lets at least debrief her here, right? Do you want to find the Princess - or not ? "

"Ok, wake your prisoner." - to what Shego took a little flask from her boot's pocket and opened it under the sleeping girl's nose. She motioned to Will, to remain behind the girl, out of the brunette´s field of vision. Luisa sneezed, coughed... and jumped on Shego, outstretched hands, screaming. Unfortunately, Shego was quite unprepared, because agent Du had just moved in a very suspicious way. Shego knew Du's watch was a dangerous weapon, and as she saw him reaching for it, her attention on him doubled. Of course, that made her pay less attention to Luisa than she should. A moment later, she was on the floor, and Jack Hench's favorite niece was choking the life out of her. She did try to summon her green plasma , but her brain was already fading out from lack of blood... Will Du, then, discharged his watch on both women... Saving both of them... Shego from imminent death, and Luisa from Drakken's unavoidable vengeance, . Luisa, of course, was physically a normal girl, so she just fell, fell as if she had been poleaxed. Shego was more resistant than average (due to her special metabolism) but she was already blanking out at the moment of the discharge. She was knocked out as well... And went limp just as Luisa relaxed her grip... Thanking GJ's prescience, Will Du began working feverishly. Mr. Du didn't have mr Bond's fabled "authorization to kill", but he did have other special "authorizations" from GJ that would have been "plausibly denied" to any outsiders. One was an authorization to conduct interrogatories by using "special resources", many of those confiscated by GJ from assorted supervillains. With this in mind, WD opened his briefcase, and took out his medical kit and interrogation tools. First, Shego. Taking a white-stripped syringe of his medical kit, he injected her hip with sedative. Then, he threw the slumbering green lass over his shoulders, and took her to the bedroom, where she should be out of his way for a few hours. Taking a syringe labelled "gl-serum", he injected Miss Street´s pale shoulder.. The "gloating serum" was actually an invention of a supervillain, but GJ had adopted it enthusiastically (however secretly). The serum was a cocktail of drugs that stimulated the brain regions charged with speech, and self-esteem. It also acted as conventional truth serum by lowering the subject's perception of his own words. The problem with it, is that the subject might still mix his fantasies with the truth. To filter that, WD had his own remedy, something he had confiscated from a mystically-inclined supervillain, years ago. He kept it on his kit, from where he took it and applied to Luisa Street, who was already mumbling weakly. The Talisman of Veracity didn't compel anyone to speak, or reveal anything. It looked like a medallion on a thin silver cord, an blocked the wearer's attempt to say anything he/she was not absolutely sure of. Miss Street began telling the story of her life, of all her accomplishments and setbacks, and WD began questioning her, steering her towards the present matter of Kim's disappearance. By sunrise he had a fairly coherent picture, and was both tired.. and shocked. "Who would have imagined that... Moe Loch, the Senator... by God's sake!"

Back to the noonian ship, Kim paused her research, and stood up, just as the computer's clock chimed 19:00. She felt light-headed She hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, and had been studying feverishly since then. When she was wondering how could she get something to eat, the door opened. It was Abby, and she looked totally chirpy. Kim wondered how much of that good humour was real.

"- Congratulations, Kim! I have just pulled a miracle!"

All those hours of study had not improved Kim's animus in the least. In fact, it had been soured more.

"Then it is _**you**_ who should be congratulated, isn't it?"

replied Kim.

Abby Ducter made a sweet-sour face. bit her lip... And replied: "Not really, Kim. But then, I can´t blame you for thinking that way... You don´t know what is normal procedure, nor how much we are bending the rules for you..."

´_Enough_´, Kim thought. _If I stay here getting all this patronizing blab from this "kidsnagger", I am going to jump her anyway. Better to know where I am situation-wise, before I lose control..._

And thus, Kim asked, as much businesslike as she could : "I thought we were going to have dinner...?"

Looking at the view around her, Kim perceived how much she had been doubtful of Abby´s explanation... until that moment. The starship was a like whole city, with hundreds of passengers going about, behaving like tourists on vacation... It was easily five thousand meters

in radius, built like the "Hollow Earth" of Symmes´s dreams. According to the literature

given for Kim to study, the neonians had the secret of artificial gravity, so the apparent incongruence of a reversed gravity field was not really a mystery. The logical analysis was no

consolation, though. Not when Kim's hopes of her present captivity being "_just another villainous plot_" disappeared like nacos in Ron's plate. No way a villain was going to draft thousands of people - just to be "**extras**" in a theatrical production set up... For the sole purpose of confusing Kim. Bitterly, Kim was forced to conclude that a neonian civilization existed. A part of her, however was getting increasingly fascinated. According to Abby, the spaceship was the evolution of, say, a transatlantic luxury liner, but in a much ampliated scale. To Kim's eyes, however, it gave the impression of a gigantic mall... with a sci-fi convention on it. That impression was re-inforced by the neonian decoration, aimed at establishing the illusion of not being on space. Like a castle, or a cathedral, the walls were studded with "windows", actually enormous (inlaid) flat screens from where one could glimpse blue sky with occasional cloud wisps. Also, the luminosity changed along the simmulated "day" as it would do on a planetary surface...there were also places from where the full magnificence of the city-ship couldn´t be seen. Those were usually landscaped to look even more like small, shadowy refuges one might find on Earth... or Neon. That first tour, however, was cut short, because Abby noticed Kim was hungry and tired. There was a small eatery nearby, so she took Kim there. I was secludded, and cozy, and reminded one of a vienense cafe. To Kim´s surprise, it was complete, down to waiters serving the food. As they approached, Kim had another surprise: Except for the clothes, they all looked like the Jumping Burglar. Noticing Kim's suprise, Abby smiled, and explained: "Surprised, Kim? These guys you see serving the tables are all silicoplast androids... They were created at the worst point of the population contraction in Neon... "

"If they had such tech, why would your aliens need humanity? " Asked Kim, as they took seats around a table on the "sidewalk"...

"These guys are no replacement to people...", stated Abby, as she (presumably) ordered for them on a smal tablet the waiter had left on the table.. "At best, they are stopgap solutions... They are clumsy, helplessly literal and completely devoid of immagination.Even for such jobs as waiting, their neural nets require extensive training coupled with rigorous testing..."

As they talked, Kim noticed someone waiving from the other side of the cafe. Abby waved back, inviting the stranger to their table, but seemed ill at ease, like when one meets someone one doesn't want to meet. The stranger was a woman, tall, blond, and willowy. Kim judged she looked about her mother's age, perhaps a bit younger, and a bit older than Abby. As she sat, she started to talkt to Abby in a strange language, presumably neonian. The stranger smiled a lot, and looked like was trying to persuade Abby of her point. Abby was not buying, however. Eventually, the blond gave up and sat with them, taking a small stick (about the size of three lipsticks) and a holed metalic disk with the same diameter. Abby looked at it, a little distastefully, and protested. The blond dismissed the protests, made a disparaging gsture towards the disk, and began to spin the disk with the stick, very skillfully. As it spun, the disk began to emmit a humm, that got increasingly musical, as the blond imparted slight variations in her spinning. As it spun, the disk also began to glow slightly, as its surface interacted with the ambient light. The interplay of light, and sweet melody called Kim's attention, naturaly. Kim was still hungry, tired and bored, what made her give the whirling disk even more of her attention. Before she knew, Kim's mind began to retreat from reality, to relax. The chairs on the café suddenly felt much more confortable. Soon, Kim's head let itself fall backward and her eyes closed. About a minute later, the blond smiled mischievously, and let her "performance" coast to stop. Meanwhile, Abby gazed at her furiously, obviously barely keeping her temper in check. - "What is the meaning of this?!", she asked the still-smiling blond.

"Just an opportunity... " Explained the blond "Just an opportunity to finish your mission right now. Believe me, I have a surplus wiping chamber where we can load your captive - Just let me call up a stretcher- then, just for a few credits, she can be mindwiped on the way to Neon.On arrival, she can be programed any suitable neonian childhood her neonian family chooses..."

Abilaine´s hands on the table were white, and she could barely control herself. When she spoke, her voice was steely as a 45: "I WILL NEVER MINDWIPE ANY DRAFTEE OF MINE..."

The blond flinched. They had told her Abby was rather protective of her draftees, but she took it for a simple business policy. Tsk, tsk. From her viewpoint, it would be in everyone's best interest: She would avoid losing money on a surplus wiping-chamber, Abby avoid losing time baby-sitting a rebellious draftee... Even Kim would be spared losing time and energy on a escape attempt or on some similar foolishness... Abby, however, was even more stick-on-the mud then she had thought.

"Ok, ok. " Said the blond, and played another melody on her instrument, for about 20 seconds. "She will wake up, very soon, relaxed and refreshed... "

Abby knew that was the better way. Kim could be awakened faster, but that would leave her with hints that she had been put to sleep... That, not even Abby wanted...


End file.
